Heat And Drought-Tolerant Species That Will Thrive

Some plants can cope with adverse weather conditions better than others, and it is important to understand just how much heat and drought stress each of our target species could potentially tolerate.
Using both glasshouse and field trial sites, we will be subjecting our target species to some of the toughest conditions they are likely to face over the coming century.

Commencing: January 2020

Completion: December 2018

How Much Heat Can Plants Really Tolerate?

Some plants can cope with adverse weather conditions better than others, and it is important to understand just how much heat and drought stress each of our target species could potentially tolerate.

Using both glasshouse and field trial sites, we will be subjecting our target species to some of the toughest conditions they are likely to face over the coming century, including:

Lengthy or intense heatwaves, along with

Extensive drought periods or periods of drought followed by intense rainfall

High average temperatures at unusual times of the season

This regime will help us understand the abilities of different plants to cope when they are exposed to more than one climate stressor simultaneously. Watering is clearly a crucial element of a plant’s success, and so we will test different watering regimes combined with different soil types and media to obtain information on a plant’s water use efficiency and drought limits. In the real-world, plants can be affected by multiple factors at once so it is important for us to impose a combination of conditions that is ‘realistic but tough’ so that we can see how the plants really respond.

A Sound Research Process Is Critical

One of the most important factors in any research process is to ensure that our results are based on credible, trusted, best-practice research so that stakeholders can be confident that their decisions are based on the most up-to-date information available.

That’s why all of our research has to adequately account for realistic climate change, carbon dioxide, heat and temperature, and drought predictions combined with feasible production and management processes for trees and other plants. We will achieve this by working with growers and our partners where possible, and applying the very best established methods of designing research for repeatability, credibility and accuracy.

Which Plant Where: Selecting the right plants for the right urban space with an eye on the future...